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The View from My Kitchen

Benvenuti! I hope you enjoy il panorama dalla mia cucina Italiana -- "the view from my Italian kitchen,"-- where I indulge my passion for Italian food and cooking. From here, I share some thoughts and ideas on food, as well as recipes and restaurant reviews, notes on travel, and a few garnishes from a lifetime in the entertainment industry.

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Grazie mille!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Bialetti Aeternum Ceramic-Coated Cookware

My New Favorite Non-Stick Cookware

These days, you can't sling a dead
chicken in an American kitchen without it landing in a piece of
non-stick cookware. Go to any major discount retailer and you'll find
non-stick cookware of all kinds at all price points. Some of it is
cheap generic stuff and some bears the name of your favorite
high-dollar celebrity chef, replete with concomitant price tag.

Now, I don't use non-stick cookware for
everything. In fact, I don't use it for much of anything. For
instance, if you want to make a pan sauce using the bits of fond that
stick to the bottom of the pan, you're out of luck with non-stick
because......well......nothing sticks. No stickee, no saucee. And
most non-stick cookware is not oven-safe and not real friendly with
high temperatures in general. So for most of my cooking applications
I stick with.......pardon the pun.......high quality stainless steel,
seasoned carbon steel, or good ol' practically invincible cast iron.

But there are some things for which
non-stick cookware is a must. Eggs, for example. I don't know
anybody, pro or home cook, who doesn't use non-stick for eggs. And
non-stick is fabulous for sauteing vegetables. You don't need a lot
of oil with non-stick cookware.

As I said, non-stick cookware is
available everywhere these days. Good quality non-stick
cookware is a little harder to find. In general, good quality
cookware is a cook's best friend. And I do mean good quality.
You can trundle on down to a discount retailer and pick up a
five-kajillion-piece set of non-stick cookware for ten dollars. Not
only will you get what you pay for, but you'll continue to pay for it
every time you incinerate something in it.

Non-stick cookware has a relatively
short lifespan. Some of the cheap, discount store stuff can be ruined
the first time you use it. But even the manufacturers of better
quality cookware project a useful life of between three and five
years. Much depends, of course, on how you use and/or abuse it.

Non-stick
has come a long way since Teflon. There used to be a lot of
health concerns centered around Teflon and other PTFE
(polytetrafluoroethylene) and PFOA
(perfluorooctanoic acid ) non-stick
coatings. Some of them were deserved. Older coatings often emitted a
noxious gas when heated to high temperatures. And you know the
age-old question, “If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they get
Teflon to stick to anything?” Well......sometimes not very
effectively. The older coatings were notorious for pitting, peeling,
and flaking off. Not only are flakes of polytetrafluoroethylene not
generally called for in most recipes, the underlying
perfluorooctanoic acid emulsifier was not good eats, either.

Ceramic
non-stick coatings are all the rage today. Bypassing the toxic
effects of older substances, these coatings most commonly utilize a
combination of ceramic silicate powder and titanium that is
sandblasted onto a pan's surface and then fired to a temperature of
about 2000°
F. This produces what many manufacturers tout as an “eco-friendly”
and “safe” yet durable non-stick surface.

I'm a big fan of
ceramic coatings. I have a beautiful ceramic-coated cast iron Dutch
oven that is absolutely wonderful for soups and stews and braises and
just about anything else you can think of. The biggest drawback is
that my wife can barely lift it. With the lid in place, that rascal
weighs in at just shy of fifteen pounds, empty.

Anyway, when it
came time to replace some of my old non-stick stuff, I knew I wanted
to go ceramic. I had heard of Bialetti's new “Aeternum” line,
and then I saw one of my favorite Italians, Fabio Viviani, using it
on his online “Chow Ciao!” cooking program. So I decided to give
it a try. I'm very glad I did.

“Aeternum”
saute pans are available in 8-inch, 10.25-inch, and 12-inch sizes.
With a colorful exterior and a brilliant white interior, they are not
only functional but kinda pretty, as cookware goes. The “Aeternum”
line has recently expanded to include an 8-piece set that contains
the aforementioned 8-inch and 10.25-inch saute pans as well as a 2 qt
covered saucepan, a 2.5 qt covered saucepan, and a 5 qt covered
stockpot. Other open stock pieces, such as a square griddle, are also
available.

Our beautiful "Aeternum"
line of cookware combines a beautiful design with modern eco friendly
cooking technology for best results.

The eco friendly Aeternum cookware
line is free of PFOA, free of PTFE and free of Cadmium.

The
interior features a new "nano-ceramic" coating which is a
water-based coating made of titanium and suspended silicate
micro-particles (the main component of glass); one of the purest and
most ecological materials in nature. This material resists scratches,
abrasions and offers a smooth, compact and uniform surface that makes
it easier to clean. The white color provides a unique and
extraordinary cooking experience.

Our
Aeternum cookware is suitable for use on gas, electric, glass and
ceramic stoves and is manufactured in China.

I'm not too much on
that “manufactured in China” line, and I don't know that company
founder Alfonso Bialetti would be either. But then again my genuine
“Original Panama Jack” hat also says “Made in China” on the
tag inside. Things are what they are, I suppose.

Regardless, the
Bialetti brand has a great track record for quality. And the cookware
is reasonably priced. The 8-inch saute pan retails for around $20 at
most places. The whole 8-piece set goes for about $130.

I've read a couple
of critical reviews from people who complain of pitting and chipping.
And they say that the coating “bubbles” after a very short period
of use. I'm sorry. These people obviously don't know how to handle
non-stick cookware. You have to baby it a little. You can't just
throw it in the dishwasher. It says so right in the instructions that
most folks don't bother to read. You can't use metal utensils or
abrasive cleaners. It's not oven-safe and you really shouldn't use
high heat on the cooktop. That goes for any kind of non-stick
cookware. So if you stick your new Bialetti “Aeterum” saute pan
on a super hot burner, use a metal fork or spatula, then toss it in
the dishwasher, guess what? The coating is going to pit and chip and
probably bubble. Duh!

I've
had my 10.25-inch pan for a couple of years and I've yet to see the
first mark or mar on the coating. The red bottom has darkened a
little with use, but the white interior is just as bright and
flawless as it was the day I got it. And it is easily the best
non-stick surface I've ever used. You don't need much of anything by
way of oil or butter when you cook. A few drops of olive oil or a
quick spritz of non-stick cooking spray is all I ever need to turn
out perfectly sauteed or pan-fried food. It is absolutely my “go
to” pan for eggs. And clean up is a breeze. The surface wipes clean
with hot soapy water and a dish cloth. My wife loves the Bialetti
non-stick as much as I do, so I'll probably wind up acquiring the
whole set eventually. (Are you listening, Santa?) I recently
purchased the 8-inch pan. My old 8-inch non-stick saute pan had seen
better days, having fallen off the pot rack a time or two. You see,
most non-stick cookware is made of aluminum, a relatively soft metal
not noted for enjoying a fall from six or seven feet in the air. So
in addition to being very well used, it was also quite out of round.
I really needed a new one, and the Bialetti was perfetto.

So if
you're in the market for some affordable, good quality non-stick
cookware, don't look for a celebrity chef's picture on the label.
Just look for l'omino con i baffi. That's
what they call “the mustachioed little man,” a caricature of
Alfonso's son Renato, who serves as the company's mascot. Well,
nowadays Fabio's picture is on some of the packaging, too. But the
other little Italian guy has been around for many years. And with
proper use and care, so will your Bialetti “Aeternum” cookware.

9 comments:

Wow ! Awesome Post! Electric griddles let you cook your favorite diner-style breakfast or Sunday Brunch at home. They're portable, so you can also take them with you to the vacation condo or cabin.Thanks!

There are literally dozens of options to buy from when it comes to a kitchen tools or kitchenware. Innumerable manufacturers and brands are available in the market as well, and this makes it daunting to know what to look for.

Awesome post!Made it with turkey breast (keep kosher, so no pork) and it was absolutely delicious!!!!!!!!! I used the same technique of slicing in half and scoring, and it cooked to juicy perfection. Served with white rice and your Pickled Ginger & Asian Pear Coleslaw...a wonderful meal!!!!! I also love cook!Thanks!

Thanks for the review. I always like to se non-stick ceramic pans and I think they are healthy compared to other cookware. Seems like this Bialetti Aeternum is eco-friendly and good quality. I'm going to try it someday.

Don't waste your money on these pans. they work for a few weeks, but after that you'll be using more and more oil to keep food from sticking. Eventually even the oil won't help. One of the worst kitchen utensils I ever bought.

Who Am I (and Why Should You Care)?

I've been around long enough to know a little bit about a lot of things. That said, there are a couple of things I know a little bit more about; food and entertainment.

I've been cooking since I was a kid -- a very long time, indeed -- and I've spent most of my adult life in the entertainment industry.

I've been writing about one or the other of these topics since the '80s, and I have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers over the years. I also spent the better part of two decades behind a microphone as the host of my own radio talk show.

Does all of this make me an expert? Nah! But I'm certainly entitled to my opinion -- and so are you! :-)